James S. Logan, Ph.D., serves as the quality assurance manager as well as the IT Accessibility Coordinator and Accessibility Fellow for Quality Assurance, Accessibility, and Web Applications Performance at the Office of Information Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology.
Georgia Tech stands at a pivotal inflection point in its software quality engineering journey. With an established foundation built on Perfecto Mobile, Quantum Framework, Cucumber, and comprehensive accessibility testing, the institution is uniquely positioned to leverage Perfecto Agentic AI—a breakthrough technology that eliminates script maintenance entirely while delivering 50-70% efficiency gains. This evolution represents more than incremental improvement; it's a fundamental shift from managing test scripts to defining quality objectives, enabling broader test coverage with significantly fewer FTE resources.
The Current Foundation: A Robust Testing Ecosystem
Georgia Tech's existing testing architecture demonstrates enterprise-grade maturity across multiple dimensions:
Perfecto Mobile: The Device Cloud Backbone: Perfecto's secure, cloud-based device lab provides access to 10,000+ real and virtual devices, browsers, and OS combinations. This infrastructure already supports:
- Cross-platform mobile and web testing
- Real-world condition simulation (geolocation, biometrics, network variability)
- Enterprise security compliance (SOC 2, GDPR, ISO 27001)
- CI/CD pipeline integration with Jenkins, Selenium, and Appium
Quantum Framework: Structured BDD at Scale: The Quantum Framework (recently updated to v3.1.7) provides a BDD (Behavior-Driven Development) layer that makes tests readable and maintainable. It bridges the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders, aligning perfectly with Georgia Tech's collaborative culture.
Cucumber: Living Documentation: Cucumber scenarios serve as executable specifications, ensuring that test cases remain human-readable while providing automated validation. This "living documentation" approach has been instrumental in maintaining quality across complex academic and administrative systems.
Accessibility Testing: Inclusive by Design: With support for Deque's axe DevTools for Mobile integrated directly into Perfecto, Georgia Tech ensures WCAG 2.2 AA compliance—critical for serving diverse student populations and maintaining federal accessibility standards.
The Breaking Point: Why Traditional Automation Hits Limits
Despite this robust foundation, Georgia Tech faces the same "maintenance dead spiral" that plagues enterprise testing teams:
- The 70% Maintenance Tax: For the average enterprise, 70% of mobile and web test automation effort focuses on fixing broken scripts rather than expanding coverage. When UI elements shift, workflows evolve, or new OS versions deploy, traditional scripts fracture—cascading into hours of locator updates and flow repairs.
- The Coverage vs. Resources Paradox: More scripts promise broader coverage but create exponentially more upkeep. Teams find themselves choosing between maintaining existing tests and writing new ones—a zero-sum game that limits quality velocity.
- The Brittle Script Problem: Traditional automation follows precise, ordered steps: click this button, wait 500ms, enter text, submit. It's precise—and fragile. UI drift, workflow changes, and environment variance trigger false failures, eroding trust in automation results.
The Agentic AI Revolution: Perfecto AI as Game Changer
Launched in July 2025, Perfecto AI powered by Perforce Intelligence represents a paradigm shift from scripted automation to goal-driven intelligence. Unlike AI copilots that merely generate scripts (which still require frameworks and constant maintenance), Perfecto AI eliminates scripts entirely and executes complete tests with zero upkeep.
Core Capabilities Aligning with Georgia Tech's Needs
Traditional Approach Agentic AI Approach Impact for Georgia Tech
- Write step-by-step scripts
- Define objectives in plain English
- Business analysts, accessibility specialists, and QA can author tests without coding
- Update locators when UI changes AI adapts in real-time to UI modifications 90% reduction in maintenance overhead
- Maintain separate test suites for web/mobile
- One natural language test runs across all platforms 4x device coverage expansion without parallel effort
- Manual triage of failures AI-powered root cause analysis with video, logs, screenshots
- Faster defect resolution, reduced MTTR
- Reactive test maintenance Proactive Test-Driven Development (TDD) Shift-left quality, tests written before code
Key Differentiators for Enterprise Adoption
1. Natural Language Test Creation
Teams describe objectives in plain English: "Complete guest checkout on mobile for latest iOS and Android; confirm success banner, order ID, and analytics event" . The AI interprets intent, explores the interface dynamically, and adapts to changes without human intervention.
2. Zero Framework Dependencies
Perfecto AI integrates seamlessly into existing CI/CD pipelines while supporting legacy Selenium/Appium scripts during transition. Georgia Tech can migrate at its own pace—retiring brittle scripts gradually while immediately benefiting from agentic capabilities for new test development.
3. Real-Time Adaptation
The patent-pending intelligent model adapts to UI changes, failures, and evolving user flows without the brittleness of traditional test logic. When a button moves or a workflow adds steps, the agent evaluates options and reroutes—no manual rework required.
4. Accessibility & Non-Functional Quality Integration
While currently supporting functional testing, Perfecto AI's roadmap includes accessibility validation (WCAG 2.2 AA compliance for contrast, focus order, hit targets) and performance guardrails (TTI under 3s, tap latency under 100ms) expected in 2025-2026 —directly aligning with Georgia Tech's inclusive design commitments.
Strategic Roadmap: Transitioning to Agentic AI
Phase 1: Foundation Extension (Months 1-3):
- Inventory critical journeys: Identify high-risk, high-traffic flows (student enrollment, financial aid, course registration, accessibility compliance checks)
- Parallel execution: Run existing Quantum/Cucumber scripts alongside Perfecto AI objectives to establish baseline coverage
- Team enablement: Train manual testers and business analysts on natural language test authoring
Phase 2: Strategic Migration (Months 4-9)
- Replace high-maintenance scripts: Target tests with highest flakiness rates for conversion to agentic objectives
- Expand coverage: Use efficiency gains to test previously uncovered edge cases, device combinations, and accessibility scenarios
- Implement TDD: Leverage Perfecto AI's ability to create tests before code is written, shifting quality left in the development lifecycle
Phase 3: Optimization & Scale (Months 10-12)
- Retire legacy frameworks: Gradually decommission high-maintenance script libraries as confidence in agentic AI grows
- Cross-functional quality: Integrate performance and accessibility objectives into functional test flows
- Analytics-driven refinement: Use execution analytics to identify coverage gaps and eliminate redundant objectives
Measurable Outcomes: The Business Case
Early enterprise adopters report transformative results directly applicable to Georgia Tech's context :
- 50-70% efficiency gains across test creation, stabilization, and triage
- 95% reduction in manual validation time (100+ hours/month saved during POC testing)
- 4x expansion in device coverage without proportional resource increase
- 90% less maintenance effort, redirecting FTEs from script repair to strategic quality initiatives
- Zero framework maintenance—no more dependency updates, locator strategy overhauls, or brittle script rewrites
Resource Optimization: A team of 10 FTEs maintaining traditional automation could potentially achieve equivalent or superior coverage with 3-4 FTEs focused on objective curation, risk modeling, and quality strategy—while expanding test breadth significantly.
Leading the Next Wave of Educational Technology Quality
Georgia Tech's existing investment in Perfecto Mobile, Quantum, Cucumber, and accessibility testing provides the ideal launchpad for agentic AI adoption. The institution doesn't need to rip and replace—it needs to evolve. By transitioning to Perfecto AI, Georgia Tech can:
- Eliminate the maintenance tax that currently consumes 70% of automation effort
- Democratize test creation across technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Expand accessibility and functional coverage without expanding headcount
- Shift from reactive maintenance to proactive quality strategy
- Maintain enterprise security and compliance standards while accelerating delivery
In an era where digital experience defines institutional reputation, agentic AI isn't just a productivity tool—it's a strategic enabler. Georgia Tech has the architecture. Now it has the intelligence to make that architecture truly autonomous, inclusive, and scalable. The future of testing isn't writing better scripts. It's defining better outcomes—and letting AI handle the execution.
Mission: Accessible – Moving Forward
https://oit.gatech.edu/accessibility